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Posted June 23, 2006 EST

Boarded Up Pub Targeted Again By Arsonists

United Kingdom -
A former pub in a residential area of Coventry has been torched for the second night running. Firefighters from Radford Road will now have talks with the firm which is looking after the boarded-up Cheylesmore pub to see if they will step up security at night.

The meeting comes after the crew spent an hour at the site on the corner of Daventry Road and Quinton Park, Cheylesmore, from 9pm yesterday.

Station Officer Carl Rylatt said: "Someone had set fire to one of the upstairs areas but we managed to get to it quickly enough to prevent it spreading."

What the firefighters also found were other spots in the building which were being prepared for future arson attacks.

Officer Rylatt added: "The plaster has been stripped off the walls leaving wooden slats exposed.

"The cracks in these had been stuffed with paper which had been piled up to set fire to next time.

"The biggest problem we face is that some of the floor boards are missing so it is quite dangerous for our crews in there now."

The first fire occurred on Wednesday, at about 7.30pm, after yobs torched a room in the upstairs of the building.

The last pints were pulled at The Cheylesmore at the start of this month. There was a short campaign by regulars to stop brewers Mitchells and Butlers from calling last orders at the bar.

It had been a Cheylesmore institution since it opened two days before the start of the Second World War.

ANOTHER arsonist kept Canley firefighters busy this morning after starting six fires in two hours.

Blazes to a fence, hedge and three bins all occurred in the Thomas Sharp Street area between 4am and 6am.

A caravan in the garden of a house in Donegal Close was set alight at 5.10am.

Sub Officer Dave Brown said: "The caravan was completely gutted by the fire and was potentially dangerous as it could have spread to the house, and because most caravans contain gas cylinders, which can explode.

"We believe it's the same person who did all six because of the time of day and the type of incident"